report

Reaction to Assassination Threat against Khatami

Political circles in Tehran reacted harshly to the publication of a front-page editorial in ‎hardliner Kayhan daily, which warned that Khatami may experience the same fate as ‎Benazir Bhutto. ‎

Yesterday, responding to Kayhan’s editorial, which accused Khatami of participating in ‎the election to derail the process and warned about his assassination, Khatami said, ‎‎“These accusations have always backfired.”‎

Khatami recalled, “All widely circulated, important and influential outlets are controlled ‎by a certain political current which sees as its duty to attack competitors.” Noting that ‎these outlets and political currents are controlled by top layers of government, Khatami ‎said, “If there is thinking in top layer of government, these attacks are controllable.”‎

Repeating Threat Against Khatami

Following the publication of its front-page editorial last Thursday, on Saturday, February ‎‎13, in another editorial, Hossein Shariatmadari, the Supreme Leader’s representative at ‎the newspaper, repeated the threat of physical violence against Khatami.‎

Addressing those who protested Kayhan’s threatening editorial, Shariatmadari said, ‎‎“Why has Kayhan’s warning worried you? Do you not regard America as terrorist, so ‎that you are enraged that Kayhan accused Uncle Sam of terrorism? Or, perhaps, you are ‎enraged that Kayhan’s warning has subverted America’s possible plan? Or, perhaps, you ‎do not dislike that possible event [Khatami’s assassination] much?”‎

In his piece, Shariatmadari repeats portions of his controversial editorial, where he noted ‎that “The aim ‎of radicals [reformers] in participating in the political events of the regime ‎is to increase the cost ‎to the regime, not to benefit the presidency or the elections,” ‎adding, “Will they not adopt a different ‎strategy once they fail to realize their aims? In ‎Pakistan, the Americans initially tried very hard ‎to bring Benazir Bhutto to power ‎through propaganda and diplomacy, and to control Pakistan ‎through her, but they adopted ‎a different method when they realized that her party was ‎completely incapable of winning ‎majority seats. This is an enlightening experience. Certain reformists have a clear (!) ‎background in this respect.” ‎

Assembly of Combatant Clerics Calls for Removal of Kayhan Editors

Kayhan’s renewed attack on Mohammad Khatami took place after the Assembly of ‎Combatant Clerics [Majma’e Rohaniyoon-e Mobarez] called for “removal of Kayhan ‎editors.” In an official statement released on Friday, this clerical establishment said, ‎‎“Discussing physical assassination, even if presented as a threat and not backed by actual ‎and tangible acts, cannot be easily ignored.” Noting that Kayhan, “despite being funded ‎by public budget and affiliated with the Islamic Republic regime, has always presented ‎itself as the most radical and biased newspaper, taking the most extreme and destructing ‎political and factional stances,” the Assembly of Combatant Clerics adds, “The right-‎wing, to which Kayhan itself belongs, calls for removal of the newspaper’s editors.”‎

In another reaction, the Islamic Participation Front’s [“Hezb-e Mosharekat-e Eslami”] ‎released a statement noting that Kayhan is funded by public budget and is controlled ‎under the Supreme Leader’s office, and suggested to Kayhan’s editors, “If Kayhan, in ‎violation of law which bars publicly-funded press from taking political stances during ‎elections, seeks to support Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection, rather than ‎threatening and accusing political opponents, it must, if it can, defend the tangible ‎achievements of his administration in the past three and a half years and leave the final ‎decision to the people.”‎